RBC's Water Attitudes Study: We're in denial over stormwater infrastructure

RBC water study: Paved driveways a problem for Canadian infrastructure

Hurricane Sandy flooded a large swathe of New England last fall, and the fear that a disaster like that will befall some part of Canada is not far from peoples’ minds. Royal Bank of Canada’s sixth annual Water Attitudes Study, released this week, shows that 90% of Canadians believe that “an extreme weather-related disaster is possible” where we live.

Some of the study results show a large disconnect between residents and reality. Two-thirds of Canadians believe that such a disaster could even affect the supply of drinking water, yet only 19% believe that major action is required immediately. That may be because 78% of Canadians believe their local water system is in good condition, but the study says that is absolutely not the case. “In most cities across Canada, infrastructure is crumbling and in urgent need of replacement or repair,” says Bob Sandford, chairman of the Canadian Partnership Initiative of the UN Water for Life Decade.

The study also shows that we can help mitigate some overflows and flooding by changing a few things around our houses, and by rethinking a few urban planning elements.

“Canadians continue to have a love affair with paved driveways,” Mr. Sandford said in a release. The study showed 47% of Canadians say their “ideal” house has a paved driveway or yard, and most of them stuck to it even knowing that a permeable surface would ease the pressure on sewers and pollution runoff. “There’s a serious trickle-down effect,” Mr. Sandford says, with excess water from urban sidewalks, roadways and parking lots combined with paved residential areas to overwhelm stormwater systems.

The study found that only 12% of respondents said they were willing to change their paved areas for water-permeable materials such as interlocking stone, and that only 7% had done so to date. But, many are doing small things that will help. As many as 64% said they planned to maintain eavestroughs and downspouts, and 33% plan to landscape, which helps hold water longer, and that figure includes those who would re-grade around the perimeter of their house to send water away from basement areas. Thirty percent of homeowners use rain barrels to collect runoff; they’re part of the group (69%) who say they are trying “reasonably hard” to conserve water (but that’s down from 71% in 2012).

Old and crumbling pipes are a consistent worry in many areas of the country. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities says it will cost $80-billion to replace the drinking water, wastewater and stormwater pipes that are in “fair” or “very poor” condition. The RBC study, part of the bank’s massive Blue Water Project, found that a full 80% of respondents are not willing to pay for their municipality’s stormwater system upgrade; only 15% say they are “very aware” of the condition of their local water infrastructure.